Spiced Apple Cake

This was an easy cake that goes very well with tea or coffee. I baked it for 80-90 minutes but it was still very soft in the centre. It could probably have stood another 10 minutes of baking.



3 medium apples
1 (8oz/250g) cup granulated sugar
1/2 (4oz/125g) cup buttter, melted
1 egg
1 1/4 (6 1/2oz/200g) cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 (3oz/90g) golden raisins
2 tbsp granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon
Powdered sugar for dusting


Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Butter an 8-inch (20-cm) round cake pan. Core and thinly slice apples, leaving skin intact.

Whisk granulated sugar, butter, and egg together in a bowl. Stir in two-thirds of the apple slices.

Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg together. Add to egg mixture along with raisins, stirring until just blended.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Arrange remaining apple slices in a pattern on top, pressing them gently into batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake until golden and springy to touch, 50 to 90 minutes depending on your oven.

Let cake stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into wedges and serve.

Note: You can use any type of apples in season. The cake will taste slightly different each time but is always moist, as well as easy to prepare. Store cake in a covered containter in refrigerator for up to 4 days.


From Williams-Sonoma, via bakebakebake

Orange, leek and watercress salad

This is an easy vegan salad I made for an Australia Day barbeque - however the fact that this dish looks like the national colours is PURELY COINCIDENTAL.


3 leeks, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons soy sauce
3 oranges, peeled and sliced into thin rings
400g watercress, picked over
2 tablespoons olive oil (to dress)


Slice leeks in half lengthways and rinse in cold water.

Cut leeks into 3 cm lengths and then thinly slice.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer the leeks and cover for 10 minutes, or until soft.

Drizzle leeks with soy sauce and leave to cool.

Layer the orange slices with watercress and leeks. Dress with olive oil and serve.


From Marie Claire's Crisp

Raspberry-spiked chocolate brownies

I made these for an afternoon tea. It was a very good spread: egg nog and rum, cucumber sandwiches, beetroot sandwiches, celery and carrot sticks, dips, bread, and several delicious varieties of tea.

This was a very easy and relatively quick recipe with very pleasing results. One of the best brownie recipes I've tried to date. Not too attractive in this picture but believe me, they looked GOOD.




200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cups raspberries, frozen or fresh (you can also sub in blueberries)

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Melt the chocolate and butter. I use the metal bowl over boiling water method, stirring until smooth.

Pour chocolate in a large bowl with eggs and sugar. Stir to combine.

Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the bowl. Stir to combine.

Pour the batter into a baking tin lined with baking paper. Top with berries.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set. The centre of the brownie will have a very fudgey texture.


From a Donna Hay recipe

Miniature empanadas

I made these for a high tea. Everyone brought along a plate of home-made goodies and we ate until we could eat no more.

All of the dishes were really impressive - polenta chips with sweet potato mash and mushrooms, peking duck salad rolls, sponge cakes with tia maria custard and toffee, custard trifle with berries and chocolate mousse, four varieties of cookies, salmon rolled in seaweed with shabu-shabu noodles... and the list goes on. I felt my contribution was pretty humble, especially because I bought the pastry! Oh well.

I made mini empanadas, about 50 in total with each sheet of pastry cut into 9 pieces, but you could make normal-sized ones as easily with the same recipe.



6 garlic cloves, chopped
120g brown onion, chopped
650g mince beef
1 long red chilli, finely chopped
90g raisins
110g olives, chopped (green or black according to your preference; I used black)
1 teaspoon paprika
1.5 teaspoons salt
parsley
2 hardboiled eggs, chopped
short crust pastry
beaten egg, to brush


Hardboil 2 eggs, let cool and chop.

In a pan, heat olive oil and cook garlic for 1 minute.

Add onion and cook 3-4 minutes.

Add beef and cook 5 minutes.

Add chilli, raisin, olives, paprika and salt, and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in parsley and eggs.

Fill pastry and brush with egg.

Bake at 230C for 20 minutes or until golden.

Serve hot, with a squeeze of lemon if you like.


Adapted from a Bourke Street Bakery recipe

Passionfruit and coconut slice

I should probably get the hang of taking better photos of my food. "No, really, I swear it was better looking than this!"






Pastry:
125 g (4 oz) butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

Filling:
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
1 1 /2 cup (12 fl oz) cream
160 ml (5 1/2 fl oz) coconut milk
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) passionfruit pulp


Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). To make the pastry, place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla essence and beat well.

Add sifted flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until combined and the mixture forms a sticky dough. Flour hands and press pastry evenly into the base of a greased and baking paper-lined tin. Bake pastry base in the oven for 15 minutes.

To make filling, place eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Add coconut, flour, cream, coconut milk, lemon juice, zest and passionfruit pulp, and stir to combine.

Pour filling over pastry base in the tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden (mine took about an hour). Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.

When cool, slice into squares. Makes 20 squares.


From a recipe by Bill Granger